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Following Hiddush's petition to the Supreme Court:

Groundbreaking: IDF to allow Reform rabbis to conduct military funerals

The IDF and the military Rabbinate will allow Reform rabbis and rabbis of other streams to conduct military burial ceremonies, as well as allow for secular funerals in military cemeteries. This official commitment was made by the attorney representing the State before the Supreme Court at a hearing held today (July 4, 2019) in response to a petition filed by Hiddush for Freedom of Religion and Equality against the IDF.

In 2017, Hiddush petitioned the Court to require that the IDF’s regulations be amended to permit full military burials that allow for the worldviews and ways of life of fallen IDF soldiers and their families that may prefer secular or non-Orthodox burials.

In response to appeals by Hiddush and negotiations between the parties, the IDF agreed to go back and correct the regulations in such a way as to make it possible for families to choose the nature of the military funeral ceremony, whether a military funeral held in a military cemetery or a military funeral held in a civilian cemetery, as Hiddush had demanded.

In a hearing held today before the High Court of Justice, the IDF promised to issue an additional amendment to its regulations in the coming months, which will mandate that an “authorized commanding officer shall notify the nearest surviving relative of the deceased, representing the wishes of the deceased, that the deceased soldier may be buried in a military ceremony that suits his/her lifestyle and beliefs, and changes to the military ceremony may be made, provided that the structure of the ceremony is preserved.”

The regulations currently stipulate that in exceptional circumstances the Military Casualties Officer may reject the changes requested by the family, for reasons relating to the procedures of the ceremony, and the military Rabbinate may reject them for reasons relating to the procedures of religious ceremony or due to desecration of the cemetery.

The regulations currently stipulate that in exceptional circumstances the Military Casualties Officer may reject the changes requested by the family, for reasons relating to the procedures of the ceremony, and the military Rabbinate may reject them for reasons relating to the procedures of religious ceremony or due to desecration of the cemetery.

In response to concerns expressed by Hiddush regarding this regulatory language, which grants the military Rabbinate discretion to potentially limit the freedom of choice of families, the Justices demanded clarifications from the attorney representing the State. The attorney replied that the military rabbinate would not object to a female Reform rabbi (for example) conducting the religious component of a military burial ceremony at the family's request, and also that he could not think of a concrete example in which the family's request for a secular or non-Orthodox ceremony would not be honored.

Hiddush is satisfied at the groundbreaking change that the IDF must now fully and practically recognize the right of IDF soldiers' families to grant their fallen children final honors in accordance with their worldviews and ways of life. We hope that the new regulations would be issued soon and broadly publicized.